The Atomic Kid

Republic Productions put out a comedy film in late 1954 which might be considered nominally sci-fi. The Atomic Kid (TAK) did involve atomic energy — a common sci-fi element in the 50s — but in more of a supporting role. Mickey Rooney stars as “Blix” Waterberry, a man who survives a nuclear test, for no apparent reason and thus becomes a person of interest. Since TAK is a “Mickey Rooney Production,” it’s not surprise that Rooney’s wife (#4), Elaine Devry, co-starred as his love interest. Robert Strauss co-starred as Blix’s faithful, if not too bright, friend Stan. Strauss gained fame in Stalag 17 the year before. Blake Edwards, creator/writer of the Pink Panther series, wrote the screenplay. Some of Cleuseau’s bumbling can be seen in Blix.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Blix and Stan wander through the Nevada desert, disappointed that they had not found a get-rich-quick uranium mine. They wander onto the site of a nuclear test about to be detonated. Stan’s geiger counter picks up radiation, so he’s sure there’s a lode nearby. They find a lone house, with a family of manikins inside. Thinking it’s a model for a tract development, Stan drives to town (in the manikin family’s car) while Blix stays to squat their claim. Blix, hungry, finds food in the pantry and makes himself a peanut butter, sardine and horseradish sandwich. Stan tells the army about Blix, but too late. The bomb is exploded. The army and physicists rush in. Blix is fine, though a bit singed and his bread toasted. Blix is subjected to months of tests to understand why he’s only radioactive, but otherwise unharmed. Corporate representatives lobby Stan for product endorsements — such as Mother Goose peanut butter. A shifty man named Reynolds convinces Stan to deny all other offers and sign with him for a million dollar book deal. This deal required that Stan wear a spy camera in a lapel flower to gather information about Blix (and any other atomic secrets he might find.) Meanwhile, Blix has been falling for his very pretty nurse, Audrey. Whenever she is near, or holds his hand to take his pulse, Blix’s radiation increases. After a variety of tests, the doctors still have no idea why Blix survived, or remains radioactive. Frustrated at his confinement, Blix manages to escape the hospital, despite serious incompetence. The FBI assist his escape. While on the lam, Blix travels to Las Vegas to meet Audrey. He does, and finds out that his atomic energy makes slot machines jackpot around him. He and Audrey go to her rooming house. After some compressed speed-courting, Blix finally gives Audrey a big kiss, which causes all sorts of sight gags about his energy burst. He glows in the dark. Blix goes back to the hospital for yet more tests, but they find that his radioactivity has returned to zero. Free to leave, if a bit disappointed at being a common nobody again, Blix seeks out his friend Stan. Mr. Reynolds is chastising Stan for being incompetent as a spy. When Blix arrives, Reynolds’ he tries to kidnap Blix for study by the Russians. Blix bluffs that his radioactivity means he could blow up with a sneeze. This, he times with a scheduled nuclear test. Cowed by the demonstration, Reynolds summons his boss. Through some fast-paced slapstick, Blix is knocked out of a window and lands on the spy boss, right in front of two vacationing FBI agents. Blix and Audrey wed and travel to their honeymoon on backroads to avoid the press. They become lost and stop at a house for directions. The house is full of manikins. Oh no! They drive away at a sped-up frame rate. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
It’s a light-hearted Blake Edwards comedy. It’s supposed to be fun. Rooney and Strauss actually make a good comedy team. They are almost in the Lewis & Martin or Abbott & Costello style, but without the Straight Man being too straight, or the “little one” being too inept. Stock footage of the nuclear tests of the early 50s is time-capsule fun.

Cold War Angle
Aside from the extensive look at nuclear testing, there is the Russian spy subplot with Mr. Reynolds. In the case of TAK, the Cold War is more of an overt background to the romantic comedy.

Notes
Yucca Flats’ Brighter Side — The premise that a man is altered by having been exposed to a nuclear test, would get recycled a few times, but one of the more famous ones is 1961’s Beast of Yucca Flats. In that film, Tor Johnson is a soviet agent accidentally exposed to a nuclear test explosion. But, instead of being turned into a benignly glowing lovelorn young man, Tor was turned into “a beast”.

Operation Desert Rock — Younger viewers might question the logic (if not the veracity) of the old stock footage showing soldiers being deliberately placed in trenches near a nuclear blast. But, this actually happened. One goal of the many nuclear tests was weapons development — bigger bombs or details, such as how high above the ground made for the best air burst. Another goal of the tests was to train troops. Sheltering in trenches showed that they could survive a nuclear blast. Entering a recently nuked zone gave them experience in moving over and taking irradiated ground. If a nuclear war were to break out, better to have ones troops familiar with what to do, and what not to do. Just as Operation Crossroads in the late 40s tested the effects of nukes on naval vessels, Operation Desert Rock tested blast effects on army gear such as tanks, trucks, cannons and jeeps. The twisted hulks were, no doubt, useful reminders of the bomb’s power.

Operation Doorstep — A tertiary goal for the nuclear tests was to study the effects on civilian items. During the Upshot-Knothole series of blasts, in March of 1953, Civil Defense authorities had some typical homes constructed at various distances from the blast center. Mannequins were arranged in faux dinner parties or other everyday tableau. Some were positioned in the bunker basements in proper Duck and Cover mode. There are some famously-repeated clips of the structures being exposed to the heat then the shock wave. Some of the frame houses were blasted apart. Others fared better. The mannequins and furnishings were generally tossed around. Operation Doorstep is the real-world event upon which Blake Edwards created his story.

Laughter Medicine — In the 50s, the American public was generally freaked out at the prospect of a nuclear attack. There were many sobering dramas, such as the television movie Atomic Attack, also in 1954. As in most of the 50s’ films, where a shred of optimism somehow prevails, Blix’s comically absurd survival was, nonetheless, survival. Having the apparent key be a peanut butter, sardine and horseradish sandwich was funny enough, but it represented that hope people had in the 50s. Somehow, they might survive the unthinkable — even if by absurd coincidence. Laughing at nuclear doom was a sort of cure for it.

Old Boy — Mickey Rooney gained fame as a “boy” actor. He began at the age of seven as the recurring character Mickey McGuire in a series of “shorts” in the late 1920 and into the early 30s. After that, he played various precocious comic boy roles. In 1937, he started another long-running boy character named Andy Hardy. This was his signature role of lovelorn, awkward and innocent “boy” role. Andy Hardy had many films stretching through the 40s. Even though (then) in his late 20s, he was short enough and baby-faced enough to pull off playing a teen. By the time of TAK, he was too old for boyish Andy Hardy films, although TAK could be viewed as “Andy Hardy Gets Bombed”. Rooney played the comic pair well with Buddy Hackett in 1963’s comic farce, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

Bottom line? TAK is a light comedy in the Abbott & Costello idiom. It’s humor is mostly slapstick or simple plays on words. As such, TAK can be appreciated by younger children. The humor can sometimes be a bit juvenile, but that has a nostalgic value: humor before vulgarity became the benchmark. The sci-fi element is thin, but the historic footage of nuclear tests has some time-capsule value.

Hell And High Water

This 1954 film is a curious sibling to the doom genre film The Bedford Incident ('65). Both feature Richard Widmark commanding a vessel. There's a submarine. Both plots involve searching for some communists with nukes. Both end with a mushroom cloud. Hell and High Water (HHW) is a lesser sibling in some ways, but an early member of the atomic angst genre nonetheless. HHW was a big-scale 20th Century Fox production in Technicolor. Bedford was a lesser-budget black and white film shot in England. Yet, Bedford is the better film.

  Quick Plot Synopsis
Narrators, posing as radio reporters tell of the disappearance of a noted atomic scientist, Professor Montel and his lovely assistant, Professor Denise Gerard while we watch second unit footage of London, Paris, Rome and New York. At the airport in Tokyo, Adam Jones (Widmark), going by the alias of Mr. MacDoughall, goes through some cloak-and-dagger machinations to arrive at a secret meeting of concerned international scientists. Montel is among them. They suspect the Communist Chinese are up to something nuclear on a remote island in the north Pacific. They want Jones to command a submarine recon mission to follow a suspect freighter and confirm or disprove their concerns. Jones demurs, but they offer him money. He accepts. The group bought a WWII Japanese submarine for the task. It needs work and refitting. Before repairs are complete, the freighter departs, so Jones and crew must too. Aboard is Montel and Denise, who causes much hormonal wolfishness among the crew. En route, they are pursued by a Red Chinese sub. There are protracted cat-and-mouse maneuvers and the obligatory silence scene. During all this, Jones and Denise kiss and embrace. Eventually, Jones' sub rams the Chinese sub and proceeds. At the first island, they find nothing. Montel insists they look at another island further north. They do, and Jones sees a B-29 with American markings being loaded by chinese soldiers. They escape capture and flee, but capture a soldier who turns out to be a pilot. The sub's chinese cook poses as another prisoner to coax out what the pilot is up to. He finds out about a plot to bomb Korea with an atom bomb dropped from an American plane, so America will get blamed for it. The pilot discovers the ploy and kills the cook. The plane is to take off in the morning. Jones wants the sub positioned off the island's runway so the can shoot it down as it lumbers aloft. Jones was to go on the island to give the here-it-comes signal, but Montel steals the skiff and goes to the island. Denise screams that Montel is her father. Too late. He's gone and gives the signal. The bomber labors for altitude. Every man on the sub is firing whatever he had, deck cannon, 50 caliber, hand guns, everything. They manage to cripple the bomber's engines. It trails smoke and circles back to the island to attempt to land. Jones orders a crash dive. They go under. The island is engulfed in a big fire ball, followed by a mushroom cloud. The sub is buffeted, but survives. Jones and Denise hug. The End.

  Apocalypse Avoided
Earlier in the Atomic Angst genre, there was a more hopeful mood. The idea that the nuclear apocalypse could be avoided was more popular than the everyone's-gonna-die themes prevalent in the late 50s, early 60s. The Bedford Incident is an example of the latter. HHW is its sibling from the former mood. The gravity of a global nuclear war is understood in HHW, but the heroes, by pluck and courage manage to avert armageddon -- which was being schemed by the dastardly communists.

  Sci-Fi Angle
HHW might, just barely, qualify as a sci-fi, since it has some of the hallmarks. There are some scientists, a geiger counter, and something atomic. In the 50s, that was enough to qualify. The sci-fi family certainly had other tenuous claimants. Yet, HHW is essentially a war/sub movie with red nukes as the MacGuffin. Still, note the common optimism. In HHW, they avert the terrible war. In many sci-fi, the good guys kill the monster, or thwart the aliens, etc. Earlier sci-fi and atomic angst focused on presumed success.

  Notes
Token Feminism -- Whether it was the story's creator, David Hempstead, or (more likely) the screen writers, Jesse Lasky, Jr. and director Samuel Fuller, the script is hyped-up bipolar mix of male chauvinism and feminism. The script can't decide which it is. On the one hand, all the men pant and drool over the only woman in the cast: Belle Darvi as Professor Gerard. She is, handily enough, young, trim and pretty. The men presume they can kiss (or paw) her. Isn't that what women are for? In an attempt to counterbalance this meaty viewpoint, the writers go to awkward lengths to let Denise be super smart. She speaks many languages including Chinese. She 'saves the day' at one point by being able to read the japanese labels on some valves. And, not least of all, she's a nuclear scientist. But, for all that, she screams like a girl, faints and gets carried to bed when she's weak.

  Cowboy Scientists -- There is a subtle optimism in the plot device that it is an international cabal of atomic scientists who assemble (and finance) the mission to save the world. The understated "dig" is that national governments are too entrenched in whatever Cold War posturing they've gotten themselves into. So, into the do-something vacuum rides our secret society of scientists, like cowboys, to save the day.

  That's Your Plan? -- The script writers said that the sneak-attack bombing of Korea would start World War III, but no hint is given as to just why the communist Chinese thought this was a good idea. Perhaps, as the nuclear-club weakling, they hoped American and Russia would blow each other up, leaving the Chinese as the strongest (surviving) power? Even in this scenario, the early Cold War optimism is expressed. Damage would be localized to America and Russia. The total disaster, ala On The Beach was not in view.

  Commie B-29s? -- Turns out, it was not all that far fetched that the Red Chinese would have a B-29 with which to pull off their deadly frame job. During WWII, three different American B-29s had to set down in the Soviet Union after missions over Japan. The Russians refused to return them. Lacking any sort of bomber as effective as the Super fortress, they took one completely apart so as to reverse engineer their own copy. Despite some minor differences, and slightly lesser performance, they succeeded. The Tupolev Tu-4 was a very good copy. With it, the USSR could conceivably reach the US mainland. The Tu-4 was the main Soviet bomber until the early 50s, when it was replaced by a more modern jet bomber. Some of the Russian Tu-4s were sold to China. So, there ya go.

  CinemaScope -- If you took away the widescreen format and color, HHW would be a fairly mediocre war film. What carries it into the lower A ranks is the strong use of color and the widescreen grandeur. Fox bought and developed the anamorphic format to give audiences wide screen visual feasts. Television, with its boxy 3:4 ratio, was becoming a bigger diversion. Movies needed something that TV couldn't do. HHW is Fox's ninth CinemaScope film. The first was The Robe in '53. Anamorphic lenses compressed (horizontally) a wide image into the boxy 35mm frame. The theater projector needed a matching anamorphic lens to decompress the squozen images. It was all still a visual treat in '54, so HHW's plot or action shortcomings were more easily overlooked. Modern audiences aren't as dazzled by color and wide image, so the mediocre plot is more apparent.

 Bottom line? HHW is an okay movie, if one is already predisposed to like submarine war movies. It would make an interesting Widmark-Subs-and-Nukes double feature with The Bedford Incident. It's not a thoughtful film, and drags at times and at other times almost painfully corny or trite. Yet, it is a representative sample of Cold War zeitgeist of its time. Disaster could be averted by action heroes.

Atomic Attack

In May of 1954, The Motorola Television Hour presented an episode entitled Atomic Attack (AA) as the last episode of its season. It was a dramatization of a suburban family coping in the aftermath of a nuclear attack on the United States. The teleplay tried to walk a fine line between frightening audiences with the horrors of nuclear war AND reassuring them that they'd be okay if they follow Civil Defense directions. Notes of optimism were Intermixed were hawkish elements too, framed to justify Cold War (mutual destruction) logic. Most of the actors are lesser names in the television realm, except Walter Mathau plays a bit part as Dr. Spinelli.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The Mitchell family are enjoying a cheerful breakfast in their upper middle class Westchester home. Dad takes the girls to school before taking the train into New York City. Mom waves goodbye. While she's doing laundry in the basement, there is a bright flash, then an earth-shaking rumble. Air raid sirens blare. Phone lines are jammed. The radio reports an H-bomb was dropped on New York City. Massive damage and loss of life. Barbara and Ginny, her daughters, come home from school. They're warned to stay indoors, as rain will carry heavy fallout. Ginny's stuffed horse is outside getting rained on. Dr. Lee, Barbara's science teacher comes to see if they made it home okay. Jim the gas station attendant is now the Civil Defense warden for the area. Dr. Spinelli checks out Barbara with a geiger counter. She's okay. Dr. Lee hides in the cellar. The back story is that he used to work in atomic research but quit for pacifist reasons. He now thinks the authorities are after him because of his anti-nuke sentiments. Jim brings some refugees, assigned to board in the Mitchell house. Mr. Flood is upbeat. Mrs. Moore is an alcoholic pessimist. Mrs. Harvey is stunned silent in mourning. Mrs. Mitchell entertains hopes that her husband was not in the city when the bomb fell. Three looters try to get in via the kitchen door. Dr. Lee fires at them with Mr. Mitchell's shotgun. He is aghast at his own behavior. When Jim comes around to check out the gunshot, Barb gives Dr. Lee a fake name to protect him. On the sixth day, the phones are working again. Mrs. Mitchell gets a call. Her husband was in the city when the bomb fell. She is distraught. The radio tells how our planes are devastating the enemy's cities. Ginny not feeling well. Her hair is falling out too. Dr. Spinelli tests her. High doses of radiation, which she got from her irradiated stuffed horse. Dr. Lee is discovered, but it turns out he's wanted for research, not jail. Mrs. Moore goes to the hospital, deciding to face her fate with dignity. Ginny does too. Dr. Spinelli says she'll need a lot of care for a long time, but should recover. They take Ginny home to care for her there. The radio tells of American air superiority over the enemy land. Mom assures Ginny that they're winning. The End.

Armageddon Survived
For all of its doom and gloom about the aftermath of a nuclear strike, AA is essentially an optimistic story. Despite the death and destruction, people would survive. America (as we knew it) would survive -- especially if we obey our Civil Defense authorities.

Impact on Sci-fi
America having to work through a massive atomic attack formed the framework of many sci-fi films. People watching their TVs in May of '54, had seen George Pal's War of the Worlds just six months earlier. America under unstoppable attack. Even the peculiar Robot Monster from earlier in '53, dealt with a family coping in the post armageddon world. Coming up soon would be Them! a month later, with giant radioactive ants as metaphors. Target Earth a few months later, would follow survivors in a city made desolate by alien invader robots. AA was the non-metaphor version of America under attack.

Notes
Based on the Book -- Judith Merrill wrote the novel "Shadow on the Hearth" in 1950. David Davidson adapted it to a teleplay. Merrill's story was essentially the same (attack on NYC, the Mitchell family in the suburbs), but with some notable differences. In her novel, Jim the Civil Defense Warden turns out to be a little creepy (in his interest in the widow Mitchell) and becomes corrupted by his power in the chaotic times. Merrill was a sci-fi writer and co-wrote a novel entitled Outpost Mars, which was itself a tale of a man abusing his power over peaceful folks, but set on Mars.

Pro-Bomb Spin -- Davidson's teleplay glossed over (or ignored) the leftist/pacifist elements in Merrill's story. Instead, he cranked up the establishment talking points that America needed its bombs to protect the nation from the enemy. Even though radiation sickness was acknowledged as bad (and perhaps fatal), it was glossed over as something one recovers from or faces with a stiff upper lip. Ginny, who has radiation in her bones, is said will get better in time as the radiation "burns itself out." In the end, when the radio reports that America is winning, there is a note of vengeful triumph.

Trust Your Authorities -- A not-so-subtle message in AA is that authority would remain. Many Civil Defense films of the early 50s sold the same message, The voices on the radio are calm and trusted. Jim, the local CD Warden is the face of the new authority. In Davidson's teleplay, the clear message is: do as you're told, and you'll be okay. Jim in the teleplay is squeaky clean and trustworthy. The authorities dispense advice, and eventually restore utilities to the suburban island of normalcy: the Mitchell's home.

Peacenik Bashing -- Somewhat ironically, where Merrill's novel had anti-nuclear anti-establishment undertones, Davidson's teleplay of her novel, had anti-peacenik undertones. The plot takes aim at pacifist thinking by making America's A-bombs a practical necessity. Dr. Lee is the symbolic peacnik. He is religious and deplores all killing. Yet, when push comes to shove, he fires a gun at the looters trying to get into the house. "I would have done it. I would have shot to kill..." he reflects. The pragmatic kill-to-protect thinking trumps the "sentimental luxury" of pacifism. America needs its nukes like he needed that shotgun. Take that, you anti-nuke peaceniks!

Bottom line? AA was the mid 50s' scary atomic scenario movie. It was akin to a later generation's version: The Day After (1983). Production quality in AA is scant, as it's a television production. Most action is described rather than shown. But, AA is a good dose of the fear that people in the 50s lived with. They felt that any day could become that shown in AA. Little wonder that sci-fi movies about alien invasions or giant bugs ravaging New York found such resonance in audiences.

The Rocket Man

Time for another Digression Week. A couple more candidates for this study came in after their year had come and gone. Up first is an obscure family movie, a light comedy that is even lighter on the sci-fi.

Science fiction had been a part of American culture long enough to be material for comedy. Abbott and Costello made a big budget sci-fi spoof in 1953 with Abbott & Costello Go to Mars. 20th Century Fox's smaller budget comedy, Rocket Man (RM) is a light, heartwarming tale that is also light on the science fiction. Essentially, it is a story of honesty and virtue triumphing over lies and corruption. The story could have been told just as successfully with a magic rock or a leprechaun, or some other magic to provide the Dies ex Machina moments, but the writers opted for the sci-fi craze.

Quick Plot Synopsis
At a Captain Talray promotional stop at an orphanage, all the cool toys are handed out before little Timmy can get one. A mysterious, and apparently invisible, man in a space suit appears and causes a ray gun to appear in the empty box. The gun has magical properties. Timmy uses it to stop a speeding drunk driver from running over one of his playmates. The drunk is a political big wig. His arrest sets in motion a plot for revenge against the local Justice of the Peace, Ameila Brown. Brown takes in little Timmy. Brown is also supposed to take in a parolee. Big Bill Watkins' spy is mistaken for the parolee and taken into Brown's home. There, he falls for Brown's daughter, June. Before this, however, Tom did his dirty work and files a bid to buy the orphanage for Big Bill. He is discovered and the romance chills. Brown cannot raise enough money to top the bid. Timmy uses his ray gun to "help" Ed (the mayor and suitor of Brown) to win a poker game. Even this is not enough as Big Bill uses obscure laws to thwart Brown. At the big election eve rally, Timmy uses his ray gun to make Big Bill tell the truth. This stark admission of his arrogance and greed costs him the election. The orphanage is saved. Tom and June are romantic again. The parolee has a job. All is right in the world. The mysterious space man smiles, nods and takes a bit of his (presumed) green cheese sandwich. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The plot, while at times quite predictable, is nevertheless complex enough to keep some interest. There are a few spots of interest that give it some value too. See Notes section below.

Cold War Angle
The sci-fi aspect is only a background foil for a more conventional family-movie. As such, none of sci-fi's usual analogies are explored.

Notes
I Dream of Klaatu -- The mysterious space man who delivers the magic ray gun is the customary benevolent alien. He's here to help us. He could just as well have been a witch or a genie or a leprechaun and delivered the magic macguffin. His magic is modeled after the human notion of what divine intervention is supposed to be like. The ethereal Klaatu tells Timmy, while he sleeps, that the gun can grant wishes, but tt can only help people and never be used for selfish gain. "Use it wisely." That is what Klaatu and his many copies wanted for us -- wisdom.

Rockets on Parade -- In the first few minutes of the film, there is a glimpse of 50s life -- a science fiction character and his rocket, make a promotional stop in a small town. Such was the science fiction craze in the early 50s. In this case it is the fictional Captain Talray. Dressed in Destination Moon space suits, they bring a box of toys for the orphan boys out of their "rocket." Such tours did crisscross the country in the early 50s. Several copies of Rocky Jones' "Space Ship Mars" toured to promote Silvercup Bread. There was also a Ralston Rocket touring. RM captures a slice of this americana.

Star Gazing -- RM is a minor film, but sports several stars of 50s sci-fi. Anne Francis plays June, the typical love interest role. She would be famous for Dr. Morbius' daughter Altera in Forbidden Planet ('56). John Agar plays the romantic leading man, Tom Baxter. RM appears to be Agar's first of many B sci-fi appearances. Watch for Beverly Garland in a bit role as parolee Bob's girlfriend, Ludine. Garland would later steal the show as Claire in It Conquered the World ('56) and nurse Nadine in Not of This Earth ('57).

Car Nut Moment -- RM features a very rare automobile which is worth noting. In the early part of the movie, Big Bill Watkins is driving a Kaiser Darrin roadster. Only 435 were made in early 1954. The Darrin was the first American production car with a fiberglass body, beating the Chevrolet Corvette to market by only a few months. The Darrin was an attempt to revitalize the sagging Kaiser-Frazer brand, but was not enough. KF stopped producing cars in 1955. Nowadays, restored Darrins fetch six figure prices. Also noteworthy is the Darrin's sliding doors. Quick-eyed viewers can see this when Officer O'Brien gets out of the Darrin in front of Amelia Brown's house. The door slides forward into the fender.

Bottom line? Rocket Man is not much of a sci-fi movie, but does at least showcase the cultural sci-fi craze of the early 50s. For this reason alone, it's worth watching. Catching Francis, Agar and Garland in a movie together before they became sci-fi regulars, is fun too. It is still a B movie, so needs some slack cut for it.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

To begin Digression Week, we go back to 1954. This was an 'epic' film in the Disney paradigm, but a somewhat minor star in the 50s sci-fi universe. It was based rather well on Jules Verne's 1870 novel of the same name. Verne is one of the founding fathers of science fiction, but what was 'gee-whiz' in the 1870s did not necessarily retain its sense of wonder. Where 50s audiences were fascinated with flying saucers, a mere submarine was less likely to impress. Nonetheless, Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (20k) is a 50s edition of a 19th century sci-fi classic, so it has an ancestral claim for inclusion in the 50s sci-fi herd.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A mysterious "sea monster" is sinking ships in the Pacific. We get to see one sunk. Crews refuse to sail. This strands Professor Arronax and his sidekick Conseil in San Francisco. The US Government promises him passage to Saigon in exchange for helping search for the monster. They find it. During its attack on the ship, Arronax, Conseil and harpooner Ned Land are knocked overboard and left behind. They drift upon the submarine Nautilus. Captain Nemo considers them prisoners, not guests, but softens when he recognizes Arronax. Nemo sees Arronax as a potential ambassador to the world for Nemo's technology. Nemo shows Aronax many of the wonders of the deep and the marvels of Nautilus. Conceil and Land continually conspire to escape. Nemo shows Arronax an island where slaves mine nitrates from gunpowder. The back story is that Nemo and his crew were once such slaves, but escaped. Hence, Nemo's "war" on the munitions trade. Nemo sinks the ship carrying the nitrates, but its exploding damages Nautilus's rudder. Land throws messages in bottles overboard, with coordinates for Nemo's home base, the island of Volcania. Later, the balky rudder causes Nautilus to get stuck on a reef. Land tries to escape, but is chased back by cannibals. A warship fires on the grounded Nautilus as it escapes. It's hit. It sinks to a record depth before Nemo regains control. At that depth, they are attacked by a giant squid. On the surface, the squid grabs Nemo. Land harpoons it and saves Nemo. They all arrive at Volcania to find it surrounded by warships. Troops swarm to the dormant volcano's summit. Via an underwater cave, the Nautilus gets to Nemo's secret base. There, he plants explosives to cover his secret. Nemo is shot in the back as they flee. Once back out at sea, Nemo prepares for a suicide dive. Land breaks free, fights first mate, and brings Nautilus back to the surface. The three escape in the skiff. The island blows up. Nemo dies of his wound. Nautilus is swamped by the wave and sinks. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
From a regular diet of black & white, and low-budget sets and effects, the colorful big budget Disney production feels almost luxurious. The acting is general A-level. James Mason does a great job as the tormented tyrant. Peter Lorrie is just fun to watch anytime. Fans of steampunk could easily see the Nautilus as the actual star of the film.

Cold War Angle
Verne had no inkling of nuclear power in his original novel. The Disney writers adapted the tale to the Cold War era by having the Nautilus powered by a nuclear reactor. With it, comes the customary cautions. "Such a power could revolutionize the world!" says Professor Arronax. "Or destroy it," retorts Nemo. The movie ends with a softened cautionary moral. Nemo's words are replayed: "There is hope for the future, and when the world is ready for a new and better life, all this will someday come to pass in God's good time..."

Notes
Glorious Steampunk -- The term "steampunk" wasn't coined until the late 1980s, and then to describe tales in which modern technology is accomplished with 19th century means. The Nautilus in 20k is a grand example of the modern (1950s) nuclear submarine rendered in 19th century forms. Actually, Disney made his Nautilus more retro than Verne did. Verne's Nautilus had a sleek electric motor drive. Disney's Nautilus had large steam engine (albiet running on reactor generated steam) It is interesting to keep in mind, however, that when Verne was imagining his Nautilus, 19th century technology was the cutting edge. Big gauges, steam pipes, levers and plate steel with big rivets were to Verne's day, what aluminum and plexiglas were to folks in the 50s. Electricity was the magic marvel of Verne's day. Atomic energy was the corresponding magic marvel for the 50s.

Movie vs. Book -- Many movie adaptations depart significantly from the books their based on. Disney's 20k, however, actually does a fair job of paralleling Verne's novel. Some changes were inevitable, such as the glossing over of the nebulous enemy to downplay Verne's more blatant anti-British attitude. Verne's novels often have a heavy travelogue flavor to them. Disney's 20k managed to retain just enough of that. To Disney's credit, he avoided inserting a female lead to become a love interest -- as many scripts did. Disney also avoided inserting a youngster as audience-identifier star. He would do this in many of his movies, but not in 20k, thankfully.

Sub Star -- As in Verne's novel, so too in Disney's 20k, the submarine Nautilus is one of the stars. Verne often wrote a tale that featured some wonder-gizmo around which the story revolves. Verne had a visionary's eye. In 1870, the submarine was so primitive that it would have been easy to miss. In 1864, the Confederate sub CSS Hunley sank the USS Housatonic. The Hunley was crude. It was essentially a 40 foot long, four-foot diameter plate steel tube. The "engine" was eight men who turned a common hand crank to drive the propeller. The explosive they planted into the hull of the Housatonic succeeded, but the shock from it may have doomed the Hunley as well. It never returned. For Verne to imagine the Nautilus when the Hunley was state-of-the-art, was quite a visionary leap. In the 1950s, complex submarines, driven by atomic reactors, traveling thousands of miles, would be state-of-the-art, so some of Verne's gee-whiz magic was lost.

Bach to the Future -- A fascinating detail in 20k, is the scenes of Nemo playing his ornate pipe organ. With facial expressions of deep inner pain and torment, James Mason pounds out Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Modern movie fans can't help but recognize in this the iconic Phantom of the Opera scene. That scene, however, appears in Hammer Film's 1962 version of Phantom of the Opera. Disney's 20k was eight years prior, and very widely seen. The Nemo-playing-Bach scene could not help but have influenced Hammer, yet the '62 version with the Phantom became the cultural icon associated with the music, not the '54 version with Nemo. Go figure.

Bottom line? Disney's 20k is a classic that should not be missed. The sci-fi component may be a little light in the context of saucers and aliens, yet it touches sci-fi's foundations.

1954

This was almost as big a year for 50s sci-fi as 1953. The genre was maturing and several sub-genre were taking shape. The notables of these were the giant-bug flicks, begun by Them! and the two rubber-suit monster types: the man-sized monster, typified by the gill-man in Creature from the Black Lagoon and the "giant" rubber-suit monster destroying model cities, defined by Godzilla. Amid all that, swirled B-movies both thoughtful and silly. Here they are in chronological order.

Riders to the Stars -- the second in Ivan Tors' "Office of Scientific Investigation" trilogy. Astronauts train for a dangerous meteoroid capture mission.

Killers from Space -- the second sci-fi B movie from the Wilder team. Almost retro, even in '54. The forerunner of alien abduction stories. Starring Peter Graves.

Creature from the Black Lagoon -- the grand daddy of all later man-in-rubber-suit monster flicks. One of the famous classics.

Devil Girl from Mars -- a low-budget British film with a cool twist. Mars women need to abduct earth men.

Them! -- this is the granddaddy of all the later giant atomic bug flicks. A classic.

Gog -- the third of Ivan Tors' OSI trilogy. High flying spy plane causes a super computer to kill off America's rocket scientists.

Crash of Moons -- a movie compilation of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger TV episodes. The old movie serials find new life on the small screen.

Tobor the Great -- a kid's sci-fi movie starring a big robot which can be controlled telepathically. Commie spies are out to steal Tobor.

Target Earth -- a low-budget B in which a handful of citizens elude a killer robot in a deserted city.

The Snow Creature -- another low-budget Wilder production about a Yeti captured and brought to Los Angeles.

Godzilla -- the granddaddy of all flicks featuring a "giant" monsters (men in rubber suits) destroying model cities.

Stranger from Venus -- a low-budget remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Monster from the Ocean Floor -- a low-budget monster movie by Wyott Ordung, the writer of Robot Monster ('53).

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea -- Disney's retelling of the classic Jules Verne tale. Big name actors, big budget and lavish color, but the Nautilus almost steals the show.
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Monster from the Ocean Floor

On the surface (no pun intended), this movie has little going for it for the sci-fi fan. It fits better into the monster/horror genre, as the monster isn't created by science gone awry. It "just is." However, there is some family pedigree that makes Monster from the Ocean Floor (MOF) a candidate for this study. First off, it has Roger Corman as the Producer. This was his first solo effort as Producer. Corman would go on to give us several more B-grade sci-fi films which would regularly make peoples' so-bad-they're-good lists. Secondly, MOF features Wyott Ordung as Director. Ordung wrote the screenplay for Robot Monster and helped on the screenplay for Target Earth. With these men involved, it merits at least one sitting.

Quick Plot Synopsis
While on vacation in Mexico, a young beautiful blonde woman hears about a "devil" monster which has taken several villagers over the years. She meets a dashing, handsome and single marine biologist and the buds of romance begin to sprout. She becomes determined to find out about this monster and do something about it. Her new boyfriend can only muster condescension. Pablo, an old local (actually played by Ordung) tells of a one-eyed beast which rises from the surf at each full moon. It just so happens that the next night is a full moon. Julie is frightened by a cow loose on the beach. She catches a glimpse of the creature in the surf before fainting. The next day, only the cow bell remains. A local old woman decides that Julie must be sacrificed to the beast to appease it. Pablo is her minion. He tries three times to get her killed off, not by feeding her to the creature, but by letting a shark get her, or her scuba tanks sabotaged. (just how this would appease the beast is unclear). Pablo has a change of heart and gives up the plan. Her boyfriend, Steve, is moving on to another area to research. She stays to look for the monster. On one excursion, she apparently snags the monster with her boat anchor. She sends some of the scraped off goo to Steve. He analyzes it and decides that she was right, there is a monster and rushes back. He arrives just as Julie is scuba diving alone to find the monster. She does, screams under water, and faints (also under water). Steve jumps into the mini-sub to go save her. He does this by ramming the sub into the creature's one big eye. He pulls limp Julie up to the surface. She's fine. They kiss and ride off together. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
The premise is pure monster story, so there's a familiar plot pattern to just sit on the couch and mindlessly enjoy. Yes, you can predict just about every event, but that's part of the charm. The mini-sub is almost the real star of this movie -- the actual hero. It is pretty cool.

Cold War Angle
As a simple monster story, there's almost none of the Cold War themes in it. The only thin connection is Steve and Julie musing about whether the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll somehow caused the monster, since it first appeared in 1946, though half a world away. None of this is developed, however.

Notes
Mixed Heroine -- One notable feature of MOF is how it centers around Julie, rather than the men. In some ways, she's a foreshadow of the (later) liberated heroines of the later decades. She (alone) feels the altruism to help the villages by finding and confronting the mystery beast. The men around her are too self-absorbed or flagrantly chauvinistic. "You're a lovely girl, Julie, but lovely girls just don't go running around worrying about non-existant sea monsters." Yet, for all her noble resolve, the Julie character is still saddled with the usual frail-female stereotypes. She screams and runs at the slightest things. She trips over nothing while running away (a movie female staple) and faints. Julie, the conflicted-heroic, is an interesting study in character development.

Scuba Sells! -- Underwater cinematography made Creature from the Black Lagoon a big hit. Audiences thought it was cool. MOF gives them a lot more underwater footage with little more going on that a diver swimming or the min-sub puttering along. The visuals themselves were presumed exotic enough on their own. Later movies would include scuba footage too, to tap into the craze, so having so much of it in MOF makes it noteworthy -- even if it comes across as padding today. Back then, it had appeal.

Star Sub -- The one man, pedal powered minisub gets a LOT of screen time. It's as though Corman and Ordung were personally very impressed with the big boy toy and might have come up with a movie in which to star it. The mini-sub was developed by Aerojet General (a weapons contractor) as a possible Navy scuba tool. When a government contract didn't pan out, they offered it for sale at Abercrombe & Fitch. The pedal-propelled model sold for $4,850. This was a very heft sum in 1954, over a year's pay for the middle-class working stiff. Working guys couldn't afford it, and rich guys don't pedal-power things. (too much like work). It's not too surprising that they didn't sell like hot cakes, despite Corman giving them a plug in the credits.

Pre Jaws -- In some of the underwater footage, where Julie is searching for the monster, the background music has a very familiar two-note pattern as the tension builds. John Williams may have unknowingly been influenced by movies like MOF when writing the score for Jaws. Watch MOF and listen for yourself.

Monster: Man-made or All Natural? -- Like many monster movies (as opposed to sci-fi), the one-eyed thing "just is." The dialogue describes it as shapeless, like an amoeba, but this looked too silly on screen, so Corman had a more shape-ful quasi-octopus monster grafted in. There's a bit of vague conjecture that A-bomb tests. The old fisherman villager, Pablo, conjectures that sometimes "nature, in her way, do many strange things." Science is not clearly to blame for this beast, so it's left as "just is."

Poor Production -- One inescapable feature of MOF is the very B-grade production quality. The photography is okay. The sound track, however, is all over the place. At times, when it's a musical score over some underwater footage, it's almost pleasant. At other times, the natural sound and dialog has been overdubbed with stock sound effects (swooshing water in a tub) and re-dubbed voices which sound like they were reciting their lines while standing inside of steel drums. As intrusive as the poor sound is, it's nowhere near as surreal as the total dubbing in Beast of Yucca Flats (1961), so one has to admit, it could be worse.

Bottom line? MOF doesn't try to be much, so in that regard, it doesn't fail much either. There's nothing compelling or thought provoking. It's just a plain ol' monster story with the usual elements. For the 50s sci-fi movie tourist, it's worth at least a stop to see the man who gave us Ro-Man, Wyott Ordung (both his directing and the man), as well as see Corman's first production. It's not a movie worth buying, but renting...maybe. Watch for free, certainly.

Stranger from Venus

Somewhat unfairly, this movie is sometimes called a cheap knock-off of The Day the Earth Stood Still ('51). Actually, this low-budget British movie does have a little life of its own. It's more of an offshoot than simply a low-budget remake. There are many similarities, one of which is inescapable -- having Patricia Neal as the female lead. But there are several differences too. These are noted in the Notes section below, but overall, the basic plot premise is the same. A stranger comes from outer space, hoping to deliver a message to the leaders of earth. "Be very careful with this nuclear power thing you've just invented. You're about to become a menace to other planets." This remake was done with almost no special effects and barely anything that could pass for action. It would not be hard, at all, to imagine Stranger from Venus (SFV) as a stage play set mostly in the inn's lobby. Nonetheless, the result goes down a few alleys that The Day the Earth Stood Still did not.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Amid some reports of a UFO, a stranger arrives at a rural English inn. He has odd behavior, but otherwise looks normal. The ship that dropped him off caused a woman's car to crash (bright lights blinded her), but he has miraculous healing powers, so she survives unhurt. The stranger (who never does give a name) finally tells everyone (about six people) that he is there to prepare the way for messengers from the planet Venus. Everyone believes him, more or less. The woman, Susan, (played by Patricia Neal) has a fiancee who is a bureaucrat. The government cordons off the area so that no one can get in to find out more, or get out to tell what they've seen. This way, the rest of the country is kept ignorant. The government conspires to capture the returning Venusian ship when it comes to pick up the Stranger and deliver the official messengers. They hope to learn of the advanced technology for their own nationalist benefits. Meanwhile, the stranger and Susan begin to have feelings for each other. The meeting with British officials did not go well, as he can read minds and knows of their duplicity. They lay out a magnetic trap to disable the ship when it lands. The stranger warns them that any foul play will mean the mother ship will simply destroy all life on the earth. Susan's scheming fiancee redeems himself by returning the stranger's stolen communication device. The stranger warns off the ship just in time to prevent its capture, but this also strands him on the earth where he cannot stay alive much longer. The movie closes with him sitting alone by a pond, fingering Susan's scarf lovingly. The camera looks away, and then back. He's gone. (Venusians just vanish when they die). The end.

Why is this movie fun?
Seeing a remake of TDESS is fun, if only to see what the writers kept from the original story, and what they changed. Patricia Neal's performance is not remarkable, but her playing the female lead (again) gives the remake a kinship to TDESS.

Cold War Angle
As in TDESS, the message is that nuclear arms are a huge threat. Mankind is being told to step back from the brink before it's too late. That feeling that the world was teetering on the edge was quite pervasive in the 50s. Movies which dealt with this brink had a resonance with audiences.

Notes
What's the Same? -- What did SFV have that TDESS did too? A stranger who comes to earth to deliver a warning about mankind's reckless nuclear ambitions. He's mild, kindly, though a bit stoic. He's a healer. He and the female lead develop a bond. The earth risks destruction if it misbehaves. Earth men are an untrustworthy bunch. The stranger cannot stay.

What's New? -- In SFV, there is no robot like Gort (or any robot at all). The stranger is not really the official messenger, but a mere landing coordinator. (He still delivers the message anyway, though) He doesn't die and come back to life. He actually develops a romantic interest in Patricia Neal (they kiss), rather than the purely platonic relationship between Klaatu and Neal. The stranger came from a specific place we've heard of. The stranger doesn't leave on the ship. The ship leaves him, stranded on a world in which he cannot survive for long.

Asteroids' Secret Revealed -- One interesting bit from SFV is that the Stranger says the asteroid belt is actually the debris from a planet whose civilization failed to heed the Venusian's warnings and continued to play fast and loose with weapons of mass destruction. SFV is clearly in the cautionary tale sub-genre. Planet Earth, don't let this happen to YOU!

Budding Conspiracy -- The cultural notion that governments were covering up the truth of UFOs was gaining traction. In SFV, the area around the stranger's landing site is sealed off by the British government. No info in, no info out. In the movies we've seen thus far, governments (usually through the military) will take charge of an alien landing situation, as in TDESS, or Invaders from Mars ('53), but there had been no attempt to cover it up. SFV may be one of the first movies to depict government as controlling and suppressing the truth about an alien landing. This is a notable shift for "government" from protector to conspirator.

Faint Christ -- Where Klaatu was a much stronger allegory for Jesus, (see notes on TDESS, 1951), the Stranger has only a few of those traits. This weakens the character noticeably. The addition of the understated romantic link moves the Stranger character further from Christ model (unless you subscribe to that Jesus and Mary theory). Unlike the Christ-like resurrection and departure to the heavens which Klaatu had at the end, the Stranger is left behind to die. The writers may have approached the Jesus analogy from the other side of the coin. The TDESS writers focused on the deity side. Christ rises from the dead and goes up into the heavens. In SFV, the writers may have focused on the humanity side of Jesus. Christ suffers death as a man to save others.

Bottom line? SFV is an extremely low-budget film with almost zero special effects. If you like lots of rockets or saucers or creepy aliens or explosions, SFV will frustrate or bore you. There is a LOT of standing around and talking. However, if you liked TDESS for its premise, SFV may interest you as an exploration of paths TDESS did not take.

Godzilla (Gojira)

If any single movie typifies 50s sci-fi, it would be Godzilla. Unfortunately, many of the later variations and copies were of such low quality that it sullies the original. For most people, Godzilla is synonymous with a cheesy rubber-suit monster stomping on model cities. This is unfortunate. Gojira has a dark and sober quality that the copies never matched.

The original, Gojira in Japan, was inspired by the American films, King Kong and Beast from 20,000 fathoms the year before, but went much further. Gojira was not simply a monster-in-the-city flick. It was a product of troubled times with some serious messages. Gojira is all about the fear of mass destruction.

Gojira isn't the movie Americans first saw Godzilla. The American release came in 1956, but it was not simply a dubbed version. New footage was included starring Raymond Burr. Much of the original footage is still there, but edited and shuffled somewhat. The heavy anti-A-bomb tone was edited out. The result was adequate, but weaker. The original Gojira is a much more powerful movie.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Ships are being lost, mysteriously, in the waters around Ohto island. A village on Ohto is destroyed by a freak "hurricane." A team of scientists are dispatched to investigate. A surviving fisherman tells of a monster. An old fisherman tells a legendary monster which occasionally punishes them. Dr. Yamane finds huge footprints which are radioactive. In a footprint, he finds a fresh trilobite. They catch a glimpse of Godzilla too. Back in Tokyo, Yamane says that nuclear testing had wrecked Godzilla's deep sea habitat, and the radiation made him both huge and indestructible.The government plan is to evacuate the coast and build a huge electric fence to contain him. This fails, as does the army's artillery. The angry Godzilla causes much destruction in Tokyo. The only hope lies in a recluse scientist's invention -- the Oxygen Destroyer -- which removes all oxygen from the water (asphyxiating all life) and turns the oxygen into two corrosive fluids which dissolve flesh. They use the Oxygen Destroyer and it works. Godzilla dies, as does the scientist who invented it. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
Gojira wasn't the first atom-awakened beast, but he was the best. This movie has many layers of allegory. It goes far beyond the stereotype of monster-stomping-models. See the Notes for particular points of interest.

Cold War Angle
Gojira is the grand poobah of the nuclear cautionary tale sub-genre. The original Japanese film is jam-packed with anti-nuclear messages, both blatant and allegorical. It's not the usual film about America worrying over communist invasion, but the cost, and danger, of nuclear weapons is the heart of the movie.

Notes
Taken from Headlines -- On March 1, 1954, the fishing boat Lucky Dragon had strayed too close to Bikini Atoll. The "Bravo" test blast was twice as powerful as scientists expected. Men aboard the Lucky Dragon were accidentally exposed to radiation from the nuclear test. All became sick. One died. There was much outrage in Japan over the "secret" tests. The Japanese avoided fish (for fear of radiation), which hurt the local fishing industry and was felt throughout the Japanese economy. This became a crisis in relations between the United States and Japan. This event is alluded to in the movie's opening scene. Japanese audiences in 1954 would not have failed to make the connection. It flavors all that follows. Even though there is no overt anti-Americanism on the screen, making nuclear testing the demon leaves no other conclusion. Japan wasn't conducting bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. America was.

Godzilla, the Symbol -- The beast is not simply a raging monster. Godzilla is the personification of atomic power -- at least it's dark side. The writer and director, Ishiro Honda, himself said that Godzilla was, "the A-bomb made flesh." It destroys cities, ravages the country, kills men women and children. It is utterly unstoppable. Scenes of Godzilla-ravaged Tokyo are intentionally very similar to images of A-bomb ravaged Hiroshima. Godzilla's fiery hot breath is the most obvious example of radiation personified. Godzillia is no mere dinosaur (as in Beast from 20,000 fathoms) or a humble animal made large, as so many of the giant bug films would later portray.

War in Review -- Another interesting sub-current is the movie as metaphor for WWII, from the Japanese point of view. It opens with peace, but trouble brewing beyond their shores. Ships are lost. Families clamor for news and demand answers from officials. Once the symbol of war arrives (Godzilla), the armed forces are mobilized to keep it (war) away. Destructive war comes anyway, unstopped by defensive forces. Scenes of over-full hospitals, children losing mothers. A whole city is reduced to a smoldering ruin. The young men suit up (diving suits) to battle (the beast) complete with the white warrior headband. All this is cast with a tone of helplessness, as a civilian might view a war. Gojira gives some expression of what WWII felt like to the Japanese.

To Nuke or Not to Nuke -- With the plot of Gojira as metaphor for WWII, it's interesting that the writers (who are Japanese) put forth the need to use the horrible super-weapon as the only hope to stop the war (Godzilla). The tragic hero, Dr. Serizawa refuses, at first, the use of his terrible Oxygen Destroyer even though Godzilla is ravaging his country. Eventually, he is persuaded that, horrible as it is, the super-weapon must be used. It works. The personification of war is stopped. Given that Japan was on the receiving end of two atom bombs, it's fascinating that a Japanese film, just 9 years later, would suggest that the bombing was actually an inevitable course. Given Japan's traditional anti-nuclear stance, this is an interesting decision.

Background Romance -- Something which gets cut out of the Americanized version is the cultural sub-plot with Emiko at the center. She represents modern post-war Japan, torn between tradition and modernism. She is founded in formality and tradition, symbolized by her arranged marriage to Serizawa, yet wants to go her own way. She found love on her own, represented by Ogata. The Emiko triangle is a commentary on the post-war Japanese psyche. This gives reason for the several extended close-ups of Emiko emoting inner conflict.

Bottom line? Gojira is well worth watching. It has much more "meat" to it than so many if its later imitators.

The Snow Creature

Here is another low-budget B movie from the father and son Wilder team. They brought us the Dragnet-style Phantom from Space in '53 and serial-esque Killers from Space in early '54. Snow Creature (SC) doesn't really fit into the sci-fi family very well. No "science" (other than a really big refrigerator) is involved. Not exactly cutting edge science. There's no science offered to either explain the monster's existence or to deal with him. SC is more of a traditional nature-monster movie. This survey of 50s sci-fi movies typically avoids inclusion of movies outside of the genre (such as simple horror, crime, drama, westerns, etc.) but since it's the product of the Wilder team, there's at least a "family" connection.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A scientific expedition into the Himalayas is interrupted when a Yeti steals the wife of the lead sherpa. The two westerners don't care and want to press on with their "science". The head sherpa, however, hijacks the expedition to search for the Yeti and his missing wife. Seeking shelter in a cave to avoid a storm, the group come across a Yeti, his mate and child, living in that cave. Mr. Yeti tries to cause a cave-in to protect his family, but manages only to kill his female and child, and get himself knocked out. The westerners then decide to take him back to America. Back in America (LA), the Yeti escapes while folks argue about whether he's an immigration or cargo issue. Yeti disappears into the city and kills a woman on the streets. The police search, but Yeti eludes them. He's using the miles of storm drain tunnels to get around (they're cooler too). The police finally catch the Yeti and shoot him dead. Everyone goes home happy. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
Not to sound grim, but one of the "fun" things about SC is that it is so blatant about the They're-After-Our-Women sub-theme. On a less serious note, it's fun to see the repeats of stock footage and even repeats of SC's own "fresh" footage. The Japanese actors (speaking japanese) as psuedo-tibetans is amusing too. Something from the all-asians-look-alike, perhaps.

Cold War Angle?
SC is more of a traditional nature-monster flick. If one were to read anything between the lines, it would be about the danger in "wild" nature. This seems too deep for SC, however.

Notes
They're After Our Women! -- If SC has any long term significance, it's as an unmitigated example of the abducted women undercurrent which pervades sci-fi. The movie's posters themselves couldn't be more blatant. "Half-Man, Half-Monster...Abducts Women." A huge Yeti carries the usual swooning babe in his arm. (In the movie, Mr. Yeti is only 7' tall or so) Many posters promise the abduction theme but the movie itself fails to deliver. SC isn't one of those. Fairly early in the film, a Yeti steals a young "sherpa" wife as she gathered firewood. The husband relates that such abduction was common. "Yeti come low country when want steal woman. Always want to steal woman." There ya go. They're after our women!

Beast in the City -- SC follows a very familiar pattern. Westerners find a beast and bring it back to the big city. Big beast escapes and causes mayhem. Big beast eventually gets killed by people defending the city. The classic of this plot-line is King Kong of course, but showed up before Kong in Lost World (1925). We saw it more recently as the plot-line in Beast from 20,000 fathoms ('53). While already getting a bit tired, this plot-line will show up again in later movies too. The Wilders were playing it pretty safe with the Urbanized Beast scenario.

Civilization Triumphant -- If there was it message lurking within the screenplay of SC, it might be that civilized man will subdue and triumph over wild nature. The Yeti symbolized the wild -- powerful, brutish, primal. The City symbolized civilization -- organized, technological, the superior power of the collective. When the wild nature thing was loose in civilization's turf, Civilization would crush nature. There is clearly no New Age nature worship in this.

Anti-Climax Ending -- SC used the Urbanized Beast formula but completely dropped the ball when it came to the ending. Viewers are given no reason to identify or feel anything for the beast. He's just a stiff, hulking thing. As such, when he's killed in the end, there's none of the usual conflict. Glad he's dead / sorry he's dead. The Wilders (writer and director) don't seem to care much either. The Yeti is just netted, shot dead and dropped. The sappy "joke" at the end throws away whatever pathos there might have been.

At the bottom line, SC is a movie that will find some affection among sci-fi collectors, but the average movie viewer will probably not be happy.

Target Earth

Target Earth (TE) is not an innovative B-movie, but retains a little freshness in how it mixes a little of this and a touch of that from previous works. The final result is not too bad, despite its very evident small budget. The poster promises "Raw Panic," but doesn't quite deliver. There is, however, a generous helping of post-apocalyptic gloom, a big dose of pulp crime drama and some attempted dashes of robot alien sci-fi. Sprinkle in some non-wooden actors and you get a fairly watchable movie about a small group of people who find themselves alone in a big city, evacuated in advance of an alien invasion.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A woman (Nora) awakens from a failed suicide attempt (sleeping pills) to find the large city completely empty. All power and water off. Eventually she finds Frank (Richard Denning). The two of them explore the empty city together, eventually finding another couple, Jim and Vicki, living it up in the lounge of a luxury hotel. No one has any idea what happened. They were all asleep (or drunk or knocked out) when whatever happened happened. While making their way towards the edge of town, they're joined by a nervous little man named Otis. A robot appears, frightening them all into another hotel's lobby. A discarded newspaper tells of invasion by a mystery army. Otis gets spooked and runs outside. The robot zaps him dead. The others decide to hide in rooms upstairs to formulate a plan (if possible) for escape. Meanwhile, the army has captured a broken robot. (They've only taken the city, not the whole world) The army scientists experiment on it to see how stop them. The tests seem futile. The army will have to use nukes on the evacuated city if the robots can't be stopped.
That night, a shifty stranger intrudes and holds Frank, Nora, Jim and Vicki hostage, at gunpoint. His plan is to force the others out into the streets as a decoy so he can escape via the sewers under the aliens' lines. He's a wanted murderer, so his only hope to escape the authorities is to go under the aliens. Vicki challenges him, but he shoots her dead. In a rage, Jim fights with, then strangles the killer. The gunshots attract one of the robots, which pursues the three survivors up the stairs and onto the roof. It zaps Jim dead, but before it can get Frank and Nora, the army's loud-speaker jeeps come up the street. They're playing a special sound frequency which the scientists found out breaks the robots' "eye", incapacitating them. The robot falls over on its back. The world is safe. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
The first half of TE is intriguing. What happens if you wake up to find everyone else gone? Later movies would pick up on this eerie theme too. The second half morphs into a more pedestrian pulp drama, but the robot is actually amusing to watch, even though he's not supposed to be amusing. It's interesting to know that people who saw the film as children report "nightmares for years" because of the deadly relentless robot. He must have touched a nerve in young 50s folk.

Cold War Angle
The premise of an invading army in a major American city pushes many Cold War buttons. For those born after the Cold War, TE provides a little opportunity to get into the heads of people at that time. There's the almost paralyzing fear of an unstoppable army. There are people trying to integrate the prospect of immanent death with daily life. The citizens in TE are a microcosm of Cold War citizenry. And don't overlook the ubiquitous moral -- Rest easy, the military will save us. Very Cold War.

Notes
Based on the Book -- The screenplay of TE follows the story line of Paul Fairman's short novel, "Deadly City," rather closely. Many of the movie's plot elements parallel the book. In some ways, though, the movie is better. The book differs in that, there are no robots. The book's aliens get little attention beyond other-worldly calls in the distance, so fear of them begins to seem unwarranted. The characters are more seedy. Jim's "girlfriend" (named Minna) is a milk-toast doormat, not the spunky "dame" of the movie. In the book, the army doesn't figure out how to stop the aliens. Borrowing from Wells, Fairman just has his feeble aliens expire in the streets from something in our atmosphere. A final difference is that Frank and Nora do not get together at the end. They just go back to being solitary seedy losers like they started out.

Essence of Humanity -- TE is like Five ('51) in following a small group of survivors in an empty land. It's a bit like Quiet Earth ('85) that way too. There's also a similarity to Invasion USA ('52) which follows a small group while America is invaded. It's inevitable that the few characters begin to represent segments of present society. Bill Raynor's screenplay is more optimistic than Fairman's rather misanthropic pulp novel.

An Army of One -- An obvious symptom of the low budget is that there is only one robot costume. Even though the dialog describes there being more, as many as hundreds, we see only the one at a time. The director used none of the usual low-budget tricks to imply lots of robots. (multiple shadows, mutli-shot quick cuts. Not even split screen) As such, the robot comes across as what he is -- the only one.

Leapin' Ludwigs! -- The background music is pretty well done, generally. It's atmospheric, enhancing, but not intruding. At one point, however, the music stands out. This comes when the robot crashes through the hotel lobby window after Davis shot Vicki. The robot busts through with a slightly discordant version of the theme from Beethoven's 5th Symphony. This is the very recognizable, da da da DUMMM theme.

Any City Will Do -- The evacuated city in Fairman's novel is clearly noted as Chicago. There's no significance to it. It just is. Other than naming a few streets, the location is very neutral. It could be anywhere. In TE, the screenwriters intentionally played up the "any city" angle. Even though TE was shot in Los Angeles (on Sunday mornings when no one was around), there is a noticeable avoidance of saying what city it is. No street names, no landmarks referred to. This helps TE be an everyman tale, relevant to whatever city the audience lives in.

Venus, the New Mars -- Unlike the writers' consensus, which saw Mars as the source of invaders, TE tags Venus as the source. The science is appallingly thin. Venus has clouds, therefore Venus has water, therefore Venus has life, therefore they came from Venus. The Venusians are never seen, nor even conjectured about. All we see is their robot, sent to do the invading by remote control. No theories are offered as to why the Venusians are trying to invade. They just are.

Stock Footage Spotting -- As a B-movie, it's almost mandatory to have several minutes of stock military footage. TE complies, but with nuggets of interest. There are some clips that are obviously from World War II, showing A-20 and B-25 bomber formations. There are even some squadron ready-room clips of pilots preparing for missions, but there are clearly maps of Germany on the walls. We'll save Los Angeles by bombing Germany! Bet the aliens weren't expecting that! Mixed within these war clips are the usual snippets of 50s jets. There are the customary P-80 Shooting Stars, and the usual B-47 taking off. There are some less common F9F Panthers and a fairly rare stock-footage star, a B-45 Tornado with an escort of P-80s. Watch for it. The B-45 was America's first operational jet bomber, but almost totally eclipsed a few years after its introduction by the more modern B-47.

Bottom line? TE is worth the watch for its apocalypse theme. The first half, especially, does quite a good job, even if the second half gets a bit pulpy. The robot is too lame to evoke anything beyond a chuckle from 21st century viewers. But, people who said they remember seeing TE as a youth (in the late 50s) report being quite spooked by them. That's worth watching, if only to try and understand the times.

Tobor the Great

Niche market movies were not a new concept in the 50s. Tobor was designed for pre-teen matinee audiences. Knowing this, the film needs to be cut some slack for not grappling with deep concepts or dramatic action. It's a kids' movie. As such, Tobor amounts to a sort of sci-fi "lite." Nonetheless, it's worthwhile viewing for its expansion on the robot archetype.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Harrison quits his job at a (pre-NASA) space agency because he doesn't believe humans should go into space. He joins an older scientist, Dr. Nordstrom, who agrees and is working on a super robot to do that task instead. They work together in Nordstrom's basement lab, eventually unveiling their creation to a select group of fellow scientists. Tobor (robot spelled backwards) has the strength and durability to withstand the harshness of space. He can be controlled remotely, but also has enough onboard intelligence to operate independently. He's also been given some fuzzy abilities to "sense" emotions and read thoughts.
A communist spy had infiltrated the group of scientists. The spies decide they must steal Tobor before he's handed over to the American government. Meanwhile, Nordstrom's grandson, nicknamed "Gadge" has become fascinated with Tobor. Since Tobor has reasoning and emotions, he and Gadge develop a friendship bond. Nordstrom's home security thwarts the spies' attempt to steal Tobor. They then arrange a kidnapping of Nordstrom and Gadge to at least learn his secrets. Nordstrom has Tobor's remote controls with him (an ear piece and special pen), so instructs Tobor to rescue them. The spies figure out that Nordstrom is stalling, get angry and destroy the pen. Tobor stops cold. Harrison switches Tobor to telepathic mode. Tobor resumes, following Gadge's thoughts. Tobor breaks into the spies hideout and fights them. Harrison and the military arrive and all is well. Tobor has proven his abilities and given a deep space mission. Nordstrom and Gadge watch the liftoff. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
Tobor is a Disney-esque variety of sci-fi, which has a certain charm. It has the same simpler ethos as the old serials, Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers. Tobor himself is totally the star and reasonably well done for a low-budget film. Given the evolution of the robot archetype within sci-fi, Tobor adds some qualities which are somewhat ahead of the curve. The movie's wide-eyed adoration of science and technology is interesting, especially given the decades of technophobia movies which will crop up later. In Tobor, technology is our steadfast friend -- and savior.

Cold War Angle
This, while shallow, is very clear. The communist spies want to steal Tobor. Dr. Nordstrom worries that Tobor's advanced programming to be subverted into destructive uses.

Notes
Robot Power! -- Prior to Tobor, robots had been by typified as strong, silent brutes -- usually with destructive powers. Tobor is endowed with the ability for independent thought AND to sense emotions. This moves Tobor out of the typical realm of mindless mechanical minion and closer to the role of artificial human. For decades, writers and audiences would remain fascinated with the idea of a robot which is almost human (Star Trek TNG's "Data" character, Robin Williams in Millennium Man, and the little boy in Spielberg's A.I., etc.). This is aided by Tobor have a sort of face too. Compare Tobor to Gog and Magog in Gog released earlier in 1954. Gog's design was intentionally NOT humanoid.

Kid Power! -- Tobor panders to its audience, in this case 8 to 12 year olds. Pandering movies are interesting for how the protagonist(s) tend to be superlative and their antagonists are bumbling fools. This will be a frequent undercurrent in teen pandering movies to come. The teens are the smart ones who save the world, while the adults are all idiots who should never be trusted with the world. Tobor isn't quite that flagrant, but is clearly geared towards a point of view from a 12-year-old in the 50s.

Technophilia -- While the sub-genre of technophobia would be gearing up in the years to come, Tobor stands out as one of the technology-through-rose-colored glasses movies. Unlike the rather customary robot rampage scene, Tobor remains under control of his human masters -- he only looks like he's rampaging. With his artificial intelligence and emotional programming, Tobor is a technological expression of Nietzsche's übermensch -- the "superman" which mere man was supposed to "evolve" into.

No Babes -- A minor point. Tobor does not carry off a swooned shapely babe as shown in the poster. This abducting-our-women trope gets a lot of exposure in 50s sci-fi -- especially the posters. Sometimes the poster fits, such as the ones for Creature from the Black Lagoon ('54). There, the gill-man does abduct the beautiful woman. Or Robot Monster ('53) in which Ro-Man does carry off young Alice with the intent of "having" her. All too often, however, the only babe abducted is the one on the poster. The movie has no such scene. Given Tobor's target audience, it's a bit odd that the promoters thought it fitting to depict Tobor carrying off a hot woman in high heels. An appeal to early pre-adolescent hormones?

Bottom line: As a movie, Tobor is too juvenile for most non-juvenile viewers to like. It's value lies in what Tobor adds to the archetype of "robot." He's a stark contrast to the evil, heartless (or berserk) robots to come.

Crash of Moons

Released as a feature film, Crash of the Moons (CoM) was actually three episodes of the TV series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger which aired in July of 1954. Since it was made for television (with incredibly small budgets) and a continuing plot line, CoM has a kinship with the movie serials like Flash Gordon and Captain Video. In that context, CoM is actually a step up, the next generation of space serials. Rocky Jones has a place in the historical sci-fi timeline as the stepping stone between Flash Gordon and Captain James T. Kirk. He's a little of both.

The costumes aren't much different from the serials. People of other worlds still seem to wear lightening bolts or other logos on all their clothing. The sets, however, have lost their Industrial Baroque look. Instead, there's a sort of spartan simplicity which reflected the 50s' sense of "modern" -- very different from the 30s' sense of what was modern. The characterizations are fairly two-dimensional, but since it was written for a "youth" audience, this was a feature, not a flaw.

Watch CoM as a sort of early experiment in TV space drama. It established several elements which the 60s version -- "Star Trek" -- would run with. More on that in the Notes section.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Two "gypsy" moons are traveling into a solar system. Their course will cause one of them to destroy the United Worlds space station OW9. No other rockets are near enough to evacuate the station's personnel, but Rocky Jones, in his rocket, the "Orbit Jet," arrive just in time to push the station out of harm's way.
The next danger is that the one of the gypsy moons is on a collision course with another small planet called Ophecius. Rocky is dispatched to warn both populations of the danger and need to evacuate. The leader of Ophecius is the evil queen Cleolantra, who refuses. She suspects everything the United Worlds does, so assumes this is just a plot to scatter her people and sabotage her reign. The rule of the moon Posita is much more affable, but lacks the resources to evacuate his whole population. In the meantime, Cleolantra decides the way to solve her problem is to blow up Posita. She and her aide, Atlasan, take a rocket to Posita and start bombing it with missiles.
Rocky disables Cleolantra's ship and assists in the orderly evacuation of Posita with a fleet of ships. He then travels in Cleolantra's repaired ship back to Ophecius in attempt to convince them to evacuate too. Panic ensues as the mob rushes the rocket in attempt to escape. Atlasan's wife urges calm and the evacuation is completed just in time. While in space on their way to new homes, the ruler of Posita waxes optimistic about the future of his people. This softens the cold heart of Cleolantra, who is then assumed to be much less thorny to the United Worlds. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Seeing Rocky Jones: Space Ranger as the forerunner of Star Trek (the original series), is in itself an interesting study. The plot is actually fairly good for an early TV series. Considering how early TV series had budgets comparable to a high school play production, the crew did a fairly good job. The special effects don't carry the show (as they're expected to in feature films nowadays), but the lack of them doesn't ruin the story's flow either. It's also fun to see John Banner in an early role (Bavarro), knowing that he would become famous a decade later for his Sergeant Schultz role in the TV series Hogan's Heros. And speaking of Bavarro and his planet, Posita, it's quite a hoot to see how almost everything on Posita is emblazoned with a lightening bolt. Doors, windows, walls, clothing. Posita was an enormously "branded" planet. Nike's marketeers may have watched TV in the mid 50s and been inspired.

Cold War Angle
While the characterizations are mostly stereotypes, it is notable that the evil ruler oppresses her people by denying them information from "outside." This is a classic Iron Curtain reference. The men of Ophecius are all dressed in ostentatious military uniforms. These things, as well as the selfishness of their autocratic ruler, are what amount to a juvenile casting of the Cold War. Good vs evil. Freedom and caring vs oppression and selfishness.

Notes
One Giant Leap for Woman-kind? -- Much was made over Gene Rodenberry including female crew members in his original Star Trek cast, as if it was such a ground-breaking move. A trip through 50s sci-fi takes some wind out of those sails. Sci-fi (even in the early 50s) often had its single woman crew member. Rocketship X-M of 1950 had Dr. Lisa. Flight to Mars ('51) had Carol Stafford. Commando Cody ('52) had his Sue Davis. Catwomen of the Moon ('53) had Helen aboard as the rocketship's navigator. Etc. etc. It was actually pretty routine to have a pretty woman among the crew. As such, having Vena part of Rocky's crew was not particularly ground-breaking. By that token, Ohura would not be either.
On another note, Cleolantra as the villain was not particularly novel either. It had been a long tradition at Disney studios to have the villain of a story be a woman. (the Queen in Snow White, Cuella de Ville in 101 Dalmations, Step Mother in Cinderella, etc.) 50s audiences would not have been shocked at a female villain.

World of Stereotypes -- The whole Rocky Jones world is stocked with stereotypes. Rocky is the brave and determined hero. Cleolantra is the shifty nemesis. Professor Newton is the typical scientist type (scatter-brained genius). Little Bobby is the token boy for the audience (of young boys) to identify with. It is interesting that the 50s notion of heros expected them to be squeaky clean and idealistically "good." Perhaps it was post-Vietnam disillusionment that sparked interest in heroes with a dark side (ala later Batman roles, etc.) But in the 50s, heroes were the idealized good-guy.
Even the two rulers are an exercise in manichean contrasts. Bavarro is the affable, caring and cooperative ruler of Posita. Cleolantra is the ruthless and oppressive despot of Ophecius.
50s sci-fi followed in the footsteps of the westerns for being morality plays. It's not hard to see them as simply westerns set in space.

Minimal Special -- One thing that stands out in CoM is how minimal the special effects are. Modern audiences have grown accustomed to on-screen action. This is a legacy of Star Trek which brought action and effects into primetime. In the mid 50s, however, these were far too expensive. In CoM, the actors talk about taking off in a rocket and walk out of the room. A few long moments of a re-used model rocket take-off are played. The next scene cut is of them inside the rocket's cockpit. This was early television. The model footage gave the actors time to exit one set, and take up positions in the other set.

Space Wiener -- Things rockety were hot in the mid 50s, especially to the youth. To promote the Rocky Jones: Space Ranger TV series, the producers had made up several (six?) "rocket" trailers with which they toured from town to town. These Rockets are a nearly-forgotten kin to Oscar Meyer's more famous Wienermobile (1936 to Present). They would get into parades and make appearances outside of grocery stores. "Rocky Jones' Space Ship Mars," was one of the better done of several rocket-trailer promotions of the mid-50s. It featured a big picture of Rocky on the side, as well as the sponsor, "Silvercup Bread". By the later 50s, the rocket trailer attractions faded in popularity. A few rusting hulks still remain. Note the photo at left with Rocky's picture barely visible yet. Such relics are a glimpse at a glorious rocket-fixated yesterday. Hot dogs, though, are forever.

Bottom line? CoM is a worthwhile look at 50s television. You can see the transition from the 40s serial style to the 60s' Star Trek. You can appreciate how much could be done with a low budget and see where the effects on Star Trek which look so laughably minimal now, were actually hot stuff at the time.

Gog

"...and then without warning, the machine became a frankenstein of steel," says the sensationalist poster text. This is the third story in Ivan Tors' OSI trilogy. His first "Office of Scientific Investigation" story was Magnetic Monster in early 1953. The second was Riders to the Stars in early '54. With Gog the loose trilogy is complete. Unlike the Star Wars trilogy in which the stories build upon each other, each of the three OSI stories are separate tales which have nothing to do with each other. The common thread is the idea of there being a sort of Science FBI agency whose job it is, is to check out the scientifically strange. In that regard, Tors' OSI is a bit like a foreshadowing of the X-Files TV series, but without any of the New Age paranormal focus.

In keeping with the previous two stories, Gog is more of a detective murder mystery movie. Tors was a huge fan of "hard" science, not fanciful fiction fluff, so Gog, like the other two movies, is chock full of reveling in sciencey stuff in an almost geeky way. This reverence for real science keeps things from getting out on shaky limb, as many sci-fi films to. The events are much more plausible, less fantastic.

Quick Plot Synopsis
At a secret underground research facility, far out in the desert, scientists working on preparations for a manned space mission, are getting murdered mysteriously. Two agents from the OSI are dispatched to solve the mystery and keep the super secret space station program on track. The scientists are killed in various ways, mostly through equipment malfunctions. The facility director and the agents suspect sabotage. Small transmitter/receiver boxes are found within equipment in different parts of the facility. They suggest that someone on the outside is transmitting in the "malfunctions" in order to kill off the program's scientists. Occasional alarms indicate some flying high intruder, but nothing is clearly found. One of the base's two robots, named Gog, kills another technician while it's mate, Magog, tries to set up an overload within the base's atomic pile. The OSI agents stop Magog with a flame thrower. Meanwhile, interceptor jets scramble and find the highflying spy jet and destroy it with missiles. Once the trouble is past, the Director announces that they will be launching their prototype space station the next day, despite the sabotage attempts to stop it. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The time spent reveling in techno-geekery has a certain Popular Science charm to it. There's an evident gee-whiz air about space and defense sciences which is fun to see. People were fascinated with things rockety and atomic. For various fun bits, see the Notes section.

Cold War Angle
Gog oozes Cold War from every frame. First is the base's underground location to make them safe from A-bombs. Next is the mysterious killer trying to stop the space station program. The high-flying mystery plane is "not one of ours." (that leaves: Them, and we all knew who they were.) The space station is to be powered by a solar mirror. Even that benign mirror has sinister possibilities. While demonstrating the mirror, the scientists use it to burn a model of a city. "This could happen...if we're not the first to reach space," says the Director. Space is the next "high ground" to be contested. At the end of the movie, when discussing the launch (despite the sabotage attempt) of the prototype space station, the Director says, "Through it's eye, we'll be able to see everything that goes on upon this tired old earth." The Defense Secretary says, "Nothing will take us by surprise again." An obvious reference to Pearl Harbor.

Notes
Seeing Old Friends -- B-films often re-used props and sets from prior films in order to save on their budgets. Gog, even though shot in Eastman Color, was no exception. Two old prop friends show up in Gog. One is our venerable old friend, the space suits from Destination Moon ('50). Look for the centrifuge scene. The research assistants are dressed in them, and as an added bonus, they wear the all-acrylic fish bowl helmets used in Abbot and Costello Go to Mars ('53). Our second old friend is scene in the radar / security room, (the one with the annoying tuning fork device). Check out the monitor wall. It's been gussied up a bit, but it is the spaceship control panel wall from Catwomen of the Moon and Project Moon Base -- complete with the empty 16mm film reels on the right side. It's fun to see old friends.

Stock Footage Star -- B-films often include stock footage of military units, tanks, jets, battleships, etc. to fill things out. Gog is no different, and even commits the common continuity error of showing one type of plane taking off, but a different kind in the air. What amounts to a small treat amid the usual stock footage of jets, some shots of a rather obscure bit of USAF hardware -- the F-94C Starfire with its straight wings and huge wing tanks. In 1954, the Starfire was one of America's coolest combat jets, yet we hear little about it. The swept-wing F-86 Sabers (which we see taxiing and taking off) were the agile fighter which gained fame over Korea. They're common stock footage stars. The F-94, with its onboard radar (in the nose cone) was deemed too advanced to risk falling into enemy hands. So, it didn't see much action , and therefore little fame. The heavier, yet powerful F-94C (one of the first US jets to have an afterburner) was 1954 America's hottest Interceptor -- designed to stop high flying Soviet bombers. It's blatant cameo appearance in Gog, intercepting the high-flying mystery plane, was a fun little bit of patriotic showing off.

What's in a Name? -- The very name of the movie, Gog, is charged with meaning to American audiences of the mid 50s, though virtually lost on viewers of the 21st century. The names of the two robots, Gog and Magog, come from the Bible. More specifically, from the prophecies of Ezekiel (Chapter 38) and the Book of Revelation (chapter 20). While just who they are (nations? kings?) has been debated for centuries, their role as tools of Satan in the battle of Armageddon is clear. Mainstream American patriotic christendom had settled on the idea that the Soviet Union was the prophesied "nations from the north" who would join Satan to oppose God. This gives the title of the movie a special Cold War significance. It also puts an interesting spin on the Dr. Zeitman character for having named the two robots in the first place. Since they were tools of the mega-computer NOVAC, what was he saying about NOVAC?

Proto-stealth -- It is interesting that the base's radar could not detect the mystery plane (which was beaming in the 'kill' instructions to NOVAC) because it was made of "fiberglass" which rendered it invisible to radar. Now, fiberglass itself isn't sturdy enough for high-speed jets, and it would take until the 1990s before composite materials advanced to make the dream of a stealth aircraft a reality. Nonetheless, the dream (or nightmare) of stealth aircraft was on-screen in 1954 in Gog.

Early Technophobia -- the super computer, NOVAC, controlled everything on the base. Even though the machines were not really killing scientists on their own, but following human orders from the mystery plane, there was the on-screen depiction of machines having a murderous mind of their own. (all pre-Steven King) In the techno starry-eyed 50s, it was fairly uncommon for the technology itself to be turning on its masters. This idea would gain traction later in the 50s, and especially in the 60s, but in '54, it was unusual.

Don't Trust Them Computers -- A cautionary subtext to Gog is the danger of trusting in a supercomputer to manage defenses and a whole base. NOVAC doesn't go bad on its own, as the computer will in The Invisible Boy, Hal in 2001 or Colossus in The Forbin Project. In this movie, it was the nefarious "others" who hacked into NOVAC to make it do the killing, but this just demonstrates the danger. People were getting a little nervous about letting machines take over too much responsibility. We were starting to distrust our creations.

Inhuman Robots -- Until Gog, robots were fairly humanoid. They had two legs, two arms, a torso and a head. Audiences had seen the mechanical Maria in Metropolis ('27), the fedora-wearing metal men in Gene Autrey's Phantom Empire serial ('35). The water-heater-like Republic robot appeared in several rocketman serials. There was the gleaming giant Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still ('51) and the cute left over fedora-dudes in Captain Video ('51). The metal giant in Devil Girl from Mars ('54) was also humaniod, in a chunky way. Gog and Magog were a departure from the stereotype. They were noticeably in-human, which was part of the mood.

Bottom line? Gog seems a bit bland, as far as sci-fi tends to go, but it has a lot in it for fans of 50s sci-fi.